While you are pursuing your “professional athlete” dream, or wondering how your 5 foot 10 height will ever gain you a spot in the NBA, I am thinking about food. Marveling at the vast varieties is what keeps me occupied. In a nutshell, food is my life. A day doesn’t go by without me thinking about my next meal. Initially, the reason why I loved food was not clear. But after much thought, I began to realize that in my family, food and love are intertwined.

Friends often hope to make plans with me over the weekend, but most of the time I decline. It’s not because I am anti-social, it is because I am most likely going on a food adventure.

Road Trip to Florida

My family and I spend numerous weekends sampling and savoring delicious foods from various places. This may sound weird to you, but it is astonishingly exciting. We wake up fairly early and begin eating. We start with breakfast, then go to lunch, then go to a second lunch, then dinner, and finally dessert.

My second lunch of the day

An odd thing that we noticed is that, going on food trips excites us more than going on a regular vacation. We go to bed pleased, on a full stomach and wake up feeling rested, ready for another day of eating. During these food adventures, we gain delightful memories and these blissful, cheerful memories will last us a lifetime.

A perfect example of the love in my family is Thanksgiving. The crispy turkey crunches against my teeth as I spot a smooth pile of warm, buttery mashed potatoes that are sprinkled with large chips of sea salt on the side of my plate. While I eat my fantastic meal, I listen to the happy, vibrant chatter of my close family. They reminisce about their past years and happily devour everything in sight. For as long as I can remember, we have had a tremendous Thanksgiving where each relative brings mouth-watering delicacies for the rest of us to share. From piping hot, smooth pumpkin pie to sweet potatoes encrusted in crisped melted marshmallows. The food makes my whole family happy.

Thanksgiving Delights

The thought of the tireless effort that my relatives put into the meals that they prepared is hard to comprehend. My family begins preparing their dishes weeks before Thanksgiving! Even if something is cooked a few minutes past its prime, everyone enjoys knowing that effort is put into the dishes each Thanksgiving.

The love in my family can be linked with something as simple as cake. A moist, spongy chocolate cake is spotted in the distance. Its cold arms are wearing a decadent chocolate frosting jacket with crunchy M and M jewels spread all over the back.

The World’s Best Cake

For numerous birthdays, anniversaries, and other extremely important events, my 92-year-old Great- Grandmother Guda makes the same chocolate cake. The cake has never changed, since the first time my 1 year-old taste buds got a taste of it to when my braces imprisoned choppers taste the mouth-watering cake now. Another unwavering thing about the cake is what is put into it. In addition to eggs, flour, and I would imagine a lot of sugar; there is one secret ingredient. Love. The love she puts into the cake is evident when you taste each tiny, delicious morsel of it. Even though today her hands are arthritis-ridden and it hurts her to even mix the ingredients, she still makes it for every special or meaningful event and the love increases every year. Once you realize the love she puts into the cake, it’s a piece of cake to give her that love right back.

My Great Grandmother Guda and I

Everyone has a calling or passion. Passion is described by Wikipedia as an intense emotion, compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something. This is what a feel with food. Your calling is something that you want go to the edge of the world to explore. Food is my calling. It has led me to create a blog called Asherzeats and have my own radio show for an NPR station. I love food, and that love for food will remain in my life forever. While famous foodies like Guy Fieri or Adam Richman are scanning the globe to find their next spot to eat, I too am tirelessly pursuing my next pigout zone. Your passion is a hard thing to discover, and after countless delectable meals, I think I have discovered something I can finally sink my teeth into.

Dearest Ash,
This is beautiful! After reading this I know everyone can really understand where your passion comes from! Thank you for honoring your family in your phenomenal writing! You are meant to so this 🙂
Love you and miss you,
Risa